“In order to determine which juveniles are appropriate for criminal court jurisdiction, states have established various criteria. Typically, the juveniles have to meet certain age and offense criteria” (Elroy & Ryder, 2014).…
The adjudication process in which a juvenile is transferred to the adult court system can take place in several ways, according to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). Transfer laws vary state to state; however, such transfers fall under three basic categories, the judicial waiver laws, prosecutorial discretion or concurrent laws, and statutory exclusion laws. Judicial waiver law is the most common transfer used and is done on a case-by-case basis (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2011). This transfer allows the juvenile case to be filed in juvenile court but is transferred to adult court with the approval of the juvenile judge. The prosecutorial discretion or concurrent law gives the prosecutor sole discretion on whether to file charges in juvenile or adult court. No hearings that take place with this process ( (OJJDP, 2011). The statutory exclusion law grants adult courts exclusive jurisdiction over classes of cases involving juvenile offenders. This law requires juvenile courts to waive jurisdiction cases that meet specific age/offense or prior record criteria (OJJDP,…
If one is old enough to do the crime, are they truly old enough to do the time? If so, does that time include being placed within a facility originally designated for those at a different age and mental capacity? There are countless disputes and problems regarding the justice system and its decisions. Among those decisions is the decision to sentence a juvenile as an adult and place them within a adult prison, rather than in a juvenile detention center. Just as in most things in life, the justice system is not black and white. Some agree with juvenile incarceration and others reckon children should be treated true to their age and as what they are, children. These academic journals, articles and opinion pieces attempt to make some sense of…
The juvenile justice sector applies to individual under the age of 18 that are unable to be tried in the adult court system. Juvenile accused of committing crimes could face a transfer to the adult court system in conformance with some state laws and the specific crime that was committed. Juveniles later found guilty are not convicted of committing crimes, but rather delinquencies. Enforced by the state, in most cases, juvenile justice focuses on lower the recidivism rate by rehabilitating offenders. Rehabilitation, rather than imposing punishment on juveniles eliminates the hardening of the juveniles. Confined juveniles often learn the ways of more violent juveniles that they would not learn if they were sentenced to rehabilitation instead. With newly acquired skills from other jailhouse inmates, juveniles are more likely to go on to commit more serious crimes. As for adults, the technique is often punishment and then rehabilitation due to the fact that society views children as more likely to change rather than adult…
The court system for juveniles in the United States was first formed in 1899, in Cook County, Illinois, which then was quickly spread across the country and most other state courts decided to establish one as well, that then in turn created the juvenile justice system. With the purpose of rehabilitating each underage offender in order for them to become a productive part of society and also to protect them by having them separated from any type of exposure to adult offenders and mentally ill adult offenders that were incarcerated as well.…
Several types of transfer for youths from juvenile court to adult court, judicial waiver, statutory exclusion, and direct file exist and are utilized. According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (2010) judicial waiver is the most popular.…
There are several offenses that would require a child be transferred from juvenile court to becoming…
You will be tried as an adult and can face the same penalties as adults, including life without parole. If convicted, you will have an adult criminal record which can significantly affect future education and employment opportunities. An adult conviction can also result in the loss of rights, including the right to vote and the right to own a firearm. These are only a few examples of the consequences to transfer and this list is by no means exhaustive. What Obstacles Would a Juvenile Face in Adult Court? The consequences of a conviction in an adult criminal court are heavier, but the adult court itself may present challenges during the…
Usually the underlying issues are mental illness or drug and alcohol addiction. Massachusetts being as progressive as it is even has drug court for juveniles. This is fantastic for many reasons. Most adults would be quick to dismiss juveniles as delinquent, misguided youth who will always be resigned to a life of crime. But fortunately there are some who saw pass this and also knew that this was not true for every young person who engaged in drug use.…
The only choice they have it to either redefine the offense to much lesser one or redefine as not being a child. Children are considered to have different competencies from adults and furthermore they have different potential to change their behavior compared to adults and that is why they need to be tried separately”. Putting these kids in adult prison with these hardcore criminals would be super dangerous, these kids could be sexual abused or anything worse. These kids are not just getting a cell mate they are getting a person that they can look up too, and that is not good they could get back out in the world and commit a serious crime because of their cell mate that they had in adult prison. Children have time to grow and learn right from wrong and it is certainly not going to take a cell mate that is in adult prison to make that change for…
If a minor is not tried as an adult, his or her, case is heard by a judge, no jury and in a juvenile court. Then a judge gets to decide what is in the best interest for the child and the child's family. A lot of children that commit crimes come from screwed-up backgrounds and could use some help getting on the right track. So a juvenile judge could sentence the child to a reform school or a juvenile facility with a rehabilitation program and release as the…
Cases are allocated depending on age from the juvenile justice system to the criminal justice system. A "child" or "juvenile" meaning any person who is under the age of eighteen is placed by default in the juvenile justice system. Therefore, after defendants turn eighteen their cases fall under the criminal justice system unless convicted under the Youthful Offender act. Offender classification is the most significant phase in criminal proceedings as it can drastically change your punishment. Children as soon as the age of thirteen, may be classified under the Youthful Offender depending on the severity of the crime. Once a defendant is classified as a juvenile they are not tried in the criminal justice system. Significantly, Juveniles have…
Determining whether a juvenile is identified as a child or an adult is quite simple. If a juvenile is under the age of 18 then he or she is not an adult and if a juvenile has graduated from high school then he or she is identified as an adult. I believe that if a juvenile has not developed a certain level of intelligence or has not emotionally developed then they can’t be identified as an adult. In addition to that, although juveniles may have developed the sense of knowing right from wrong they may not know what’s right from wrong in the “adult world.” There have been laws passed to permitting juveniles to be transferred to adult court. The process with transferring juveniles to adult courts starts with the seriousness of the offense committed by the juvenile. If a juvenile has committed an offense such as armed robbery or murder then without a doubt there aren’t any excuses for…
A child, defined as a person under age 18, can be tried as an adult only if the child was age 14 or older at the time of the offense. Nearly all juvenile cases begin in juvenile court with a felony charge. The court must conduct hearings and make certain determinations before the child can be transferred to another court for trial. For a juvenile case to be transferred to an adult criminal court, it has…
Children, in the legal system, are classified often in a separate class from adults. Unlike adults, children are looked at as persons that are less blameworthy and have the capability to change. For purposes of abuse/neglect, the juvenile court may exercise jurisdiction until the child reaches his 18th birthday. (Section 211.031.1(1), RSMo. For purposes of status offenses, the juvenile court may exercise jurisdiction until the juvenile reaches his 17th birthday. (Section 211.031.1(2), RSMo. Anyone over these ages are trialed as an adult.…